Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Marquette, MI

July 4, 1986Delta County, Michigan

NWS Marquette, MI issued this tornado warning at Jul 4, 1986, 9:00 PM EDT for Delta County, Michigan. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 4, 1986, 9:00 PM EDT (01:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 1986, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Marquette, MI
Area
Whole counties

County Delta County, MI

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 175 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 00:00Z on 1986-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2385 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 00:00Z on 1986-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2385 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1275 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
139 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
7.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMQT 050100
TORMQT
MIC043-109-041-050200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
900 PM EDT FRI JUL 4 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

SOUTH CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN...DICKINSON...MENOMINEE AND DELTA

AT 848PM EDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC IN NIAGRA
WISCONSIN..45 MILES WEST OF ESCANABA MICHIGAN MOVING TO THE EAST
AT 30 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO..GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. DO NOT STAY IN A CAR OR MOBILE HOME..FIND A REI#NFORCED
SHELTER OR LIE FLAT IN A DITCH OR RAVINE.

REPORT ALL SEVERE WEATHER SIGHTINGS TO YOUR NEAREST LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK THEM TO RELAY IT TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.

 TJE.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 4, 7:49 PM EDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
740 PM EDT FRI JUL 4 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 2AM EDT FOR SOUTHERN
PART OF MICHIGANS UPPER PENINSULA...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING UPPER MICHIGAN
COUNTIES HAS EXPIRED..SOUTHERN MARQUETTE..NORTHERN MENOMINEE..AND
DELTA.

AS OF 740 PM EDT.. NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS REPORTED IN THOSE COUNTIES.

AT 733PM EDT RADAR SHOWED A WIDELY SCATTERED AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS
STREATCHING FROM NORTHCENTRAL WISCONSIN THROUGH SOUTHERN UPPER
MICHIGAN. THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE 50 MILES WEST OF ESCANABA
AND ABOUT 90 MILES WEST OF ESCANABA.

ALL STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MIL^ES AN HOUR.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN OR NEAR THE WATCH
AREA.

EGGER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Marquette, MI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 8:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTDickinson, Menominee60 min
Jul 4, 8:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTDelta60 min
Jul 4, 9:00 PM EDTTornado WarningMQTDickinson, Menominee60 min
Jul 4, 10:04 PM EDTTornado WarningMQTDelta, Menominee26 min
Jul 4, 10:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTAlger, Schoolcraft62 min
Jul 4, 10:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTDelta, Menominee62 min
Jul 4, 11:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTAlger, Marquette63 min
Jul 4, 11:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMQTSchoolcraft63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.